30 Pieces
by Jimmy the Gothic Egg
Summary: If silence was made of silver, you'd be made of gold.


**1. meeting  
**Surprisingly, before Longshot could pull the arrow from its quiver, there was a knife to his throat.

"Hi there," a voice said. "I'm Smellerbee, and please don't make me kill you."

He couldn't help but comply.

**  
2. smile  
**It's been two weeks since their newest recruit had joined the Freedom Fighters, and Smellerbee was worried. He had remained silent, sat back, watched the world from the tree tops, and not once given a hint that he might be a human being.

Still, she was happy that day when she caught his smile.

**  
3. jealous  
**It turned out, the strong silent type attracted one too many girls for Smellerbee's taste.

"The sooner we leave Ba Sing Se, the better," she muttered as the fruit stand girl attempted to flirt.

Longshot didn't say anything, but she didn't miss his grin.

**  
4. weapon  
**"I didn't give you a weapon so you could stab things with it!" Jet screamed.

Smellerbee looked at him with a confused expression. "Then what's the point of having a knife?"

**  
5. blink  
**The two boys sat across from each other. They were perfect opposites: Jet was smirking; Longshot remained passive. While Jet boasted, he waited, silent. Then the contest began.

"The first one to blink loses!" Jet announced.

Smellerbee groaned and walked off.

_I'll just have to go on patrol on my own then._

**  
6. sigh  
**It was the smallest noise in a bustling market. The sigh escaped her before she could stop it, and she went about ignoring that it had happened. They'd already agreed to stop mentioning it, and even in her mind she blocked out the images from the day they lost Jet.

While the breath was small and went unnoticed, she still wondered how Longshot knew exactly when she needed him to put his arm around her.

**  
7. blood  
**"Oh spirits," she murmured, feeling tears well up in her eyes, even if all she had for this man was hate. "There's so much of it."

That night, in the branches of the trees, she explained to Longshot it didn't really matter who the man was that you killed. Your blood still looked the same.

**  
8. water  
**"I swear I'll kill that waterbender," Smellerbee snarled as she recklessly stabbed the tree. Just hours ago they'd managed to un-freeze Jet from the tree, and he was in his room sulking. Now she was forced to wander the woods to make sure no firebenders had figured out where they were because that little gang had saved them.

From the above the trees, Longshot gave no reply that she could hear, but she still turned on him.

"So what if she was right!" she screamed. "It doesn't make her better!"

She got no response back.

**  
9. sky  
**Smellerbee remembered sitting up in the trees with Longshot back in the forest, saying no words but covering every topic with simple touches and long pauses. The sky had seemed endless, stretching out to blanket them, as if they could just barely reach it—and sometimes when the clouds were heavy with rain, and you found a tall enough tree, you could almost actually _touch it_.

But here in Ba Sing Se, with walls on all sides, it just seemed like something they were hanging over her, taunting her with.

When she climbed the rooftops, it seemed that much farther away.

**  
10. blush  
**"Look, I'm not wearing this because I _want_ to."

Longshot nodded.

"It's so stupid that I've got to go to this dumb festival."

Longshot nodded.

"And where _this_! How do women move in these?!"

Longshot looked up. Smellerbee was wearing a soft green dress, her hair was brushed, and she'd actually washed for once.

Longshot could not hold in his laughter.

Smellerbee blushed, touching the war paint she'd refused to take off. "Oh yeah?" she challenged. "Let's see you in one of these."

**  
11. game  
**"I used to play this game when I was younger," she explained. "Where we'd all scramble on top of each other and try and get on top."

He waited for more, not letting his eyes leave her face.

"They wouldn't let me play half the time," she said. "Because I was a girl and all. They said I'd just get trampled and cry."

He tilted his head slightly, getting a better look at her smiling face.

"I think that's why I won every time," she grinned. "Element of surprise."

**  
12. life  
**"I'm glad," Jet had said. "Longshot needs a life."

Yeah, Smellerbee had thought, but not one without me.

**  
13. heat  
**The firebender almost roasted her alive.

The campfire had burned away her food into a black and boiling mess.

She curled up against Longshot on the cold winter nights, feeling his warmth seep into her bones.

And when passion and lust overtook reasoning, she really didn't mind this kind of heat.

**  
14. laugh  
**She'd tried punching out Sneers and fallen flat on her face. Everyone was laughing. She scrambled up, threatening to wave about her knife.

Beside her, a hand helped her up, and she couldn't help but notice the other one was protecting his lips as he hid a laugh.

**  
15. cold  
**"The first night out here, all alone," she said softly, hugging him tightly. "It was so cold, I thought I'd never be warm again."

He pressed against her harder.

"I'm glad I met you."

**  
16. fear  
**There's real, actual fear in her eyes, and he pounces before anything can be said. He doesn't even think about the bow and it's purpose, but he finds that an arrow can do just as much damage when applied directly into the heart.

**  
17. lust  
**She sometimes finds it hard to distinguish between love and lust, and spirits know what Katara has told her has been no help at all, but when she sits close to him and knows that she'd rather have this silence and the slight touch of his knee and hers, she thinks—knows, even—it's love.

**  
18. anger  
**She strikes without thinking _(because what if she can't do it in time­)_ and without breathing _(because what if he isn't)_ and she already knows whatever action she takes now, it won't change the fact that he's lying on the ground, and his silence is no longer reassuring.

**  
19. nightmare  
**One night she woke from a nightmare and climbed into her brother's bed, and he let her—_just this once, because you've got to grow up sometime_—and she fell back asleep knowing that her brother can scare all the monsters away.

This time, after the dream repeats itself a million times over, she climbs into Longshot's bed, and he doesn't say anything, making room for her to sleep.

**  
20. heart  
**Her hand is placed gently against his chest, and slowly they lean in until their breath is one, and she feels his heartbeat speed up.

**  
21. bet  
**"Smellerbee's fighting again."

"Maybe this time Jet won't step in."

"I'm gonna bet on Pipsqueak. No way she can take him down."

So silently that nobody notices, Longshot puts in something, hoping Smellerbee will prove them wrong.

**  
22. kiss  
**"Did that woman honestly need to give me The Talk? I mean, I haven't even kissed a boy yet!"

Longshot grins as he thinks back to the fortuneteller who'd dragged Smellerbee away, explaining she needed to "know a few things" before she got too cozy, whatever that meant. She'd come back blushing and telling him she was lucky she didn't push her in the fire.

**  
23. need  
**"You don't need me," Jet had said, groaning in pain. Smellerbee had been afraid to touch him, like it would make it worse.

"But we do!" she'd protested.

His look went past her, to Longshot, who nodded in understanding.

"You've got each other."

**  
24. drink  
**There were a few things to be said about Smellerbee, one of which being that she could drink most men under the table.

He didn't really mind carrying her home, either.

**  
25. scar  
**They were comparing scars they'd gotten, running away, getting caught, or just being stupid. They were judging the size and severity, acting like it was some kind of honor.

Smellerbee gave a sad smile to Longshot. "You can't help it that you're scarred on the inside."

**  
26. bath  
**Smellerbee took a deep breath as she approached the subject of their hygiene.

"We need to take a bath sometime," she'd reasoned.

He nodded.

"But, that, uh, means we've gotta use the, um…"

Longshot cocked his head. He'd never seen her nervous before.

"Public baths!" she blurted and gone red.

He raised an eyebrow and tried to point out that the men and women's sections were in fact separated.

**  
27. hair  
**"When I was a little girl I had really long hair," she said, gesturing to her shoulders. "My mom made me take care of it and straighten it and make sure I kept it shiny and clean."

He thought about Smellerbee being shiny and clean, but nothing came to mind.

"I was glad when I cut it all off."

**  
28. love  
**Her first kiss was when she was a little girl and didn't know any better.

Her first love was when she was still a girl, but not so little, and she didn't know everything, but she did know him, and that was enough.

**  
29. finale  
**"So we're going to help the Avatar defeat the Fire Nation," she thought out loud.

He didn't completely understand.

"I don't know," she said. "It just seems like, it happens, then it's over, and it's like we're through. Finished. The end."

Well at least we can go out with a bang.

**  
30. death  
**Long Feng first thought: How did these two children get past the guards?

His second: They look somewhat familiar.

His third: There's something sharp in my gut.

His fourth: I'm going to die.

His final was the shorter one's voice, screaming at him, asking why he had to kill _him_.

Because, he thought as the black overcame him. Death is my job.


End file.
